Power Up (album)

Following the 2014 album Rock or Bust, the group embarked on a seventeen-month world tour. Prior to the tour, drummer Phil Rudd was charged with attempting to procure murder, threatening to kill, and possession of methamphetamine and cannabis. For the tour, Rudd was replaced by Chris Slade, who had also previously played with AC/DC on their 1990 album The Razors Edge, several years after Rudd first left the band. By 2016, lead singer Brian Johnson had started to suffer hearing loss, causing the final ten dates of the Rock or Bust tour to be rescheduled. Ultimately, he was replaced with Guns N' Roses vocalist Axl Rose for the remaining dates. On 8 July 2016, bassist Cliff Williams announced that he would be retiring from the band once the tour was finished, citing health issues as reasons for retiring, and calling AC/DC a "changed animal". In 2018, rumours began circulating that AC/DC were working on their seventeenth studio album, with Johnson, Rudd, and Williams having returned to the group. Johnson, Rudd, Angus Young and Stevie Young were photographed in August 2018 at Warehouse Studio, a recording studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada owned by fellow musician Bryan Adams, suggesting the band were working where they had recorded their three previous albums. The rumours were later confirmed as the truth, with the album having been recorded there over a six-week period in August and September 2018 with producer Brendan O'Brien, who also oversaw 2008's Black Ice and 2014's Rock or Bust, with some tweaking having followed in Los Angeles in 2019. Every track is credited to Angus and Malcolm Young as Angus had raided the AC/DC vault of unreleased songs to record the album. rock and roll, While promoting the album, Angus admitted that the songwriting process was difficult as he had to compile riffs that he had written with his brother Malcolm prior to his death in 2017. He stated that their nephew Stevie assisted him in arranging the riffs before the band entered the studio. == Release and promotion ==

After a series of cryptic teases reading PWR/UP on the band's website, the album's title was revealed to be Power Up on 7 October 2020. The album was released on 13 November 2020. In its first week of release, it was projected to place either first or second on the Billboard 200 all-format albums chart, and to top the US and UK album sales chart. Prior to the album release, the music audio for the band's first single, "Shot in the Dark", was released on 7 October 2020. A music video for the song was released on 26 October 2020. The song topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart for two weeks starting in November 2020. A 53-second short clip of a second song, "Demon Fire", was debuted ahead of the album's release on 30 October 2020 as well; On 7 December 2020, it was announced that the music video for "Demon Fire" would have its world premiere release on 9 December 2020 as the third single from the album. Two days prior to the album release, the music audio for the album's second single, "Realize", was released on 11 November 2020. A music video for the song was also released via YouTube on 13 January 2021. A music video for the song "Witch's Spell" was published on YouTube on 9 June 2021. It was also released as a single the same day. On 11 June 2021, the song "Through the Mists of Time" was released as a twelve-inch single, with "Witch's Spell" as the B-side as a part of Record Store Day. A music video for the song was published on YouTube on 30 September 2021. Tour To further promote Power Up, AC/DC launched the Power Up Tour on 17 May 2024 on Gelsenkirchen, Germany, with former Jane's Addiction bassist Chris Chaney replacing Williams and former Slash's Snakepit drummer Matt Laug replacing Rudd. Two songs from the album, "Shot in the Dark" and "Demon Fire", were played. ==Critical reception==

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the release received an average score of 79, based on 19 reviews, indicating "Generally favourable reviews". At the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards, the album won Rock Album of the Year. The single "Shot in the Dark" was nominated for Rock Song of the Year, but lost to Foo Fighters' "Shame Shame". For the 64th Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for Best Rock Album, and "Shot in the Dark" was nominated for Best Rock Performance and Best Music Video. The album won the 2020 Metal Storm award for Best Hard Rock Album. It was also nominated for Biggest Surprise, but lost to Lucid Planet's Lucid Planet II. ==Commercial performance==

In Australia, Power Up debuted at number one on the ARIA Charts and, in the process, AC/DC became the first act to have an Australian number one album in five consecutive decades (1980s to 2020s). The album registered 21,535 sales in its first week outselling the rest of the top 15 combined. As of 12 December, it has spent four weeks at number one, becoming the equal longest number one album in Australia in 2020. In the United States, Power Up debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, with 117,000 album-equivalent units (including 111,000 pure sales) in its opening week. It became the band's third album to reach number one on the chart, following For Those About to Rock We Salute You (1981) and Black Ice (2008). In Germany, it debuted at number one, selling almost 160,000 copies, the best start of the year. It stayed at number one for a total of five non-consecutive weeks, and became the best selling album of 2020. Worldwide, it was the sixth best selling album of 2020 with 1.37 million copies sold. ==Track listing==

All tracks are written by Angus Young and Malcolm Young. ==Personnel==

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. AC/DC • Angus Young – lead guitar, backing vocals • Brian Johnson – lead vocals • Cliff Williams – bass guitar, backing vocals • Phil Rudd – drums • Stevie Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Production • Brendan O'Brien – production, mixing • Mike Fraser – engineering, mixing • Ryan Smith – mastering • Billy Bowers – additional engineering • Zach Blackstone – engineering assistance • Dominick Civiero – engineering assistance • Kyle Stevens – mix engineering assistance • Matt Tuggle – mix engineering assistance • Colin Kadlec – mix engineering assistance • Richard Jones – equipment technician • Trace Foster – equipment technician • Simon Murton – equipment technician • Josh Cheuse – creative direction and photography, art direction and design • Michelle Holme – art direction and design • Ben Ib – cover art ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications and sales==